Kwame Ayew

Kwame Ayew (born 28 December 1973) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Kwame Ayew
Personal information
Date of birth (1973-12-28) 28 December 1973
Place of birth Tamale, Ghana
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Striker
Youth career
1990 Africa Sports
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1992 Metz
1992–1993 Al Ahli 22 (14)
1993–1995 Lecce 34 (7)
1995–1996 União Leiria 13 (1)
1996–1997 Vitória Setúbal 23 (8)
1997–1999 Boavista 56 (31)
1999–2000 Sporting CP 26 (7)
2000–2001 Yozgatspor 19 (11)
2001–2002 Kocaelispor 28 (10)
2002–2003 Shenyang Ginde 28 (14)
2004–2006 Inter Shanghai 56 (26)
2007 Vitória Setúbal 12 (3)
Total 317 (132)
National team
1992–2001 Ghana 25 (9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
Olympic medal record
Men's Football
1992 Barcelona Team Competition

During nearly 20 years he played professionally in six countries, mainly in Portugal where he appeared for four teams in the 90s, amassing Primeira Liga totals of 131 games and 51 goals over the course of six seasons.

Club career

Born in Tamale, Ayew started playing professionally in France at only 17, spending a couple of Ligue 1 seasons with FC Metz, then moved to Qatar with Al Ahli SC and played in another country in the following two years, Italy, appearing and scoring sparingly for U.S. Lecce (for instance, he netted four goals in 1993–94's Serie A as his club ranked last with only 28 goals, a competition-worst).

Ayew moved to Portugal in 1995, and would remain there in the following five years. He started with U.D. Leiria and Vitória de Setúbal, then impressed at Boavista F.C. also in the Primeira Liga, scoring 15 times in 27 games in his second season to earn his team a best-ever at the time runner-up place, behind neighbours FC Porto.

After nearly 50 official goals for Boavista, Ayew moved to country giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Even though he was never an automatic first-choice (having to battle for a starting berth with Alberto Acosta, Edmílson and Mbo Mpenza[1]), he netted seven goals in 13 starts as the Lions ended an 18-year drought and conquered the national championship.[2]

In the following years Ayew would play in Turkey (two seasons) and China (five), rarely settling with a club. In January 2007 the 33-year-old returned to former side Setúbal, contributing solidly as the Sadinos avoided top flight relegation by one point; he retired from the game shortly after.

International career

Ayew was a member of the Ghana national team that won the bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, scoring six goals in as many games.[3] In total, he won 25 senior caps.

Education

Ayew attended Ghana Senior High School in Tamale.[4]

Personal life

Football ran in Ayew's family: his brothers Abedi and Sola also played football, the former spending a big part of his career with Olympique de Marseille. His nephews, André, Jordan and Rahim, also played the sport professionally.[5]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League
DivisionAppsGoals
Metz B 1990–91
1991–92
Total
Al Ahli 1992–93[6] Qatar Stars League 2214
Lecce 1993–94[7] Serie A 183
1994–95[6] Serie B 164
Total 347
União Leiria 1995–96[8] Primeira Liga 131
Vitória Setúbal 1996–97[8] Primeira Liga 238
Boavista 1997–98[8] Primeira Liga 2916
1998–99[8] Primeira Liga 2715
Total 5631
Sporting 1999–2000[7][6] Primeira Liga 267
Yozgatspor 2000–01[7] Süper Lig 1911
Kocaelispor 2001–02[7] Süper Lig 2810
Shenyang Ginde 2003[6] Chinese Jia-A League 2814
Inter Shanghai,
Inter Xian[lower-alpha 1]		 2004[6] Chinese Super League 2017
2005[6] Chinese Super League 238
2006[6] Chinese Super League 131
Total 5626
Vitória Setúbal 2006–07[8] Primeira Liga 123
Career total 317132
  1. Renaming in 2006

Honours

Sporting

Kocaelispor

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References
  1. "Inácio testa Ayew ao lado de Acosta" [Inácio tests Ayew next to Acosta]. Record (in Portuguese). 14 October 1999. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  2. "Ayew pode deixar Alvalade" [Ayew may leave Alvalade]. Record (in Portuguese). 2 June 2000. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  3. Kwame Ayew – FIFA competition record
  4. Ibrahimah, Seidu (13 March 2015). "Ghanasco, Tamale, Sends Out Distress Call To Her Sons And Daughters". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  5. "Le clan Ayew, une dynastie de footballeurs" [The Ayew clan, a footballing dynasty] (in French). Slate Afrique. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  6. Kwame Ayew at National-Football-Teams.com
  7. "Kwame Ayew » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  8. Kwame Ayew at ForaDeJogo
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